


Phoenix Rising

by SelyseNewman



Category: John Wick (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-29
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-01-06 03:23:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21219752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SelyseNewman/pseuds/SelyseNewman
Summary: Set after John Wick 2 alternate timeline. Someone from Johns past before Helen makes an appearance. NOTE: Reposting these chapters as I finally downloaded to my computer and noticed TONS of errors. I apologize for that and moving forward should be better.





	1. Chapter 1

John was running out of time. His excommunication order was about to go into effect, and he had to make some decisions fast. He was injured and bleeding, the rain turning crimson and cascading to the ground in bloody rivulets. He needed to get patched up and fast. He picked up his phone and called Charlie. “Do you need a reservation?” Charlie answered on the second ring. “Charlie, I need somewhere to get fixed up, NOW.” Charlie thought for a minute, “You need to head to Switzerland.” John laughed, “I need something a bit closer Charlie.” “No John, it’s a safe house. It’s literally Switzerland and allows you 24 hours of protection from everyone, including the high table. I’ll text you the address, but the only thing is that the owner has to allow you in. I’ll make the call.” The line went dead. Immediately an address came to Johns phone and it was only 30 minutes away, just close enough.

He gets in a car and gives the driver the address. He places pressure on his wounds and tries to sit as still as possible on the drive to Switzerland. About halfway there his phone rings again. “John, I talked to the owner and she’s allowing you to come for sanctuary. You have 24 hours.” The line goes dead again. John had only been out for five years. He had never heard of a safe house from the high table. It wasn’t supposed to exist. He figured he’d have enough time to figure something out once he got there.

The cab led him to a property outside of the city that was surrounded by a fence. The driver dropped him off at the gate and left. He pushed a button on an intercom to the right and as he did, he saw a red dot appear on his arm and travel to his chest. Well shit. He figured whatever was going to happen was going to happen and just sighed as he pushed the button, “John Wick.” A few moments passed and the gate swung open. A girl dressed in all black with an AR15 met him and escorted him up the long drive to the house. The red dot still appeared occasionally, and he figured there were many more assassins waiting to kill him if he did something wrong.

A house came into view that was like an old farmhouse with a wraparound porch, but if you looked closely you could see sentries on the roof and in the shadows around the house. Once on the porch in front of the door the girl with him knocked three times and walked away from the house. She didn’t say anything, and he presumed he was to stay. A couple minutes later an older woman came to the door and ushered him in. “Hello Mr. Wick, you need to come in. I’ll take you to the medical room.” The inside of the house smelled like apples and cinnamon. It was such a comforting smell. He had no idea what this warehouse was really for, but he was grateful to be able to get fixed up at least.

She led him to a room with multiple stretchers and medical supply cabinets as well as surgical lights and kits. Various equipment lined the room. He laid down on a stretcher while the woman left the room and locked the door. John didn’t know how this was going to play out, but he was still glad for some time to figure out his next play.


	2. Chapter 2

He must have dozed off. He startled awake when he heard the door unlock and sat up on the stretcher. In walked a woman with shocking purple hair wearing scrubs. He had been fixed up by nurses and doctors alike over the years, but she looked unlike anyone he had met before. She had piercings and tattoos covering her just like the switchboard workers and administrators. At first, he thought he had been tricked and sent to the high table. She came closer to him and when he looked into her hazel eyes, he felt like he had met her before. He didn’t recognize the tattoos but her eyes he had seen before, he just couldn’t place where.

She smiled and sat down by the stretcher. “So, John, what injuries do you have for me to fix? We can get to your other questions after.” He stripped off his shirt and showed her the stab wound on his right shoulder. It definitely needed stitches, but his other wounds were shallow enough to only require some cleaning and butterfly bandages. She grabbed some antiseptic, saline, bandages and a suture kit. She cleaned his stab wound and injected some saline to help with numbing then stitched the wound closed. She proceeded to clean the rest of his wounds, apply antiseptic and bandages. He watched her work but decided not to talk until afterwards. “All right, you’re all done but I would appreciate it if you would let me give you an IV antibiotic just to stave off infection. It will only take about an hour and then we can get you something to eat.” He thought about it and was wary, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he knew her somehow and trusted her. Her suture skills were some of the best he had seen. He nodded slowly as she started an IV and hung a bag of fluids with antibiotics.

He laid on the stretcher and she covered him with a blanket. She checked the fluid and John started to nod off. He just needed a little nap before figuring out what the hell he was going to do. The woman stared down at him as his breathing slowed and pulled a syringe from her pocket. She knew he wouldn’t allow himself to rest for long, so she gave him some pain medication to help make sure he got some rest. She hooked him up to a monitor and laid on a nearby stretcher so that she would be nearby in case he needed anything.

John awoke and felt fuzzy, he had a suspicion that she had drugged him with something. It was still dark outside the window, but he couldn’t waste what little time he had left. The IV was gone and when he looked around, he saw her asleep on a nearby stretcher. He looked at her closely trying to figure out who she was and why he recognized her. She had helped him, and this place allowed him to stay alive just a little bit longer until he came up with a plan.

He got out of bed and slowly walked towards her. Her purple hair was fanned out around her and she was breathing slowly and deeply. He could see tattoos down her arms and on her chest, the rest of her was covered by scrubs. She had piercings through her nose and her eyebrows as well as several in her ears. She also wore a necklace with a locket. The locket looked familiar, but he couldn’t really place it either. He took his hand and brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. He hadn’t heard or seen the woman from earlier come in.

“Please don’t touch her when she’s sleeping, she doesn’t respond well to that.” He pulled his hand back like he was bitten and turned back to the woman. “Sorry. She just looks so familiar to me.” The woman nodded, “well that’s for you two to discuss later. My name is Madge and you can follow me to get some food.” John followed her to the kitchen and started eating chili and cornbread.” Once he was finished, he wasn’t sure what to do as the other woman hadn’t appeared yet. Madge led John to a bedroom and laid out some clothes and towels on the bed. “Bathroom is through there, go ahead and get cleaned up. She should be up by then.” He went to the bathroom to clean up and change and when he returned from the bathroom the purple haired woman was sitting on his bed.


	3. Chapter 3

He smiled at her, “My name is John, but I suppose you already know that. I just want to thank you for helping me.” She smiled back, “Everyone around her calls me Phoenix. Charlie called me and asked that I allow you to come. He’s a dear friend and I trust him with my life. I owe him more than I can ever repay so when he asked me to let you come, I had to say yes.” John has known Charlie for years, but only as the cleanup crew. He considered him a pretty good friend as well.

“Well I just wanted to thank you no matter the reasons you allowed me to come. I just need to focus on what I’m going to do next. What is this place though? I’ve never heard of The Switzerland safe house before.” She smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes, “that is a long conversation we should have over coffee, follow me.”

She left the room and led him to a library. There were chairs and some coffee cups with coffee and tea on the table. She poured herself a cup and added sugar. John sat in the other chair and poured himself a cup of black coffee. She pulled her feet under her and sipped the coffee. Then she began her story.

“Well you know already that the high table regards their ancillary staff highly but that things can happen without their knowledge. I was a nurse in medical school about 6 years ago. I kind of fell into working with them at the Continental and typically did medical work when it was needed like tonight. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. I had been working for them for about a year and a half when I was called to help Petyr Stroyovski. I don’t know if you knew him, but he was a lower Russian mobster who dealt in human trafficking."

“I was called to his compound as he was injured pretty badly with multiple stab wounds and gunshot wounds. I fixed him up and stayed to nurse him back to health. When he was better enough for me to leave, he decided that he wasn’t going to allow me to go. He kept me there locked up and raped me over a period of 2 weeks.” Her eyes got a faraway look in them as she stared off, he couldn’t imagine what she had went through. Though he didn’t know Petyr, he had heard a great deal and none of it was good. “The time felt like so much longer. When I finally decided to try to escape, he stabbed me multiple times until I was almost dead. Petyr thought I was dead and called for me to be removed. That’s how I met Charlie. He came by himself as I was the only body and when he found I was still alive he snuck me out as a dead body and took me to a hospital a few towns away. I required multiple surgeries and took quite a while to recover.”

“At the time he kept everything from the high table. When I was recovered, I decided to meet with the high table so I could hopefully one day return to my life. They were actually very upset that he had harmed their staff and began to worry what would happen if other ancillary staff found out and didn’t want to help anymore. We met over a few months and decided there needed to be somewhere anyone could go and be safe until all information was gathered and the high table could get the full truth prior to decisions. My old life was long gone so I agreed to take care of this property and the decisions made here. They named me Phoenix as I rose from the ashes of my death and the first decision that came down was for the assassination of Petyr. I’ve been here helping ever since.”

John thought about it carefully. It made sense that the high table would be upset as they did not appreciate any of their rules being broken and they had a rule about harming the ancillary support staff. This organization only operated so well because of the others brought in to help when needed. None of this explained why she was so familiar but at least it explained the current situation he found himself in. She sat quietly, apparently awaiting him to say something. “Well, okay.” She grinned and nodded. As she rose from her chair he leaned forward, “None of that explains how I know you and why you look so familiar though.” She stopped with her back facing him. She didn’t immediately turn around, but when she did her eyes looked sad. “I had hoped that with time and all the changes you wouldn’t recognize me. What gave it away?” “Honestly the locket. I thought you looked familiar, but I know I know that locket.” She smiled slightly, “We have met before but that was a long time ago. You were injured and I patched you up.” He thought about it, but there had to be more to the story. He didn’t just remember people the way he remembered her. He wasn’t about to push as his luck was thin to begin with. She left the room and he rose from the chair and followed her from the room.


	4. Chapter 4

He followed her down a corridor to a room that looked like an office. There were tall mahogany bookshelves lining the room with books on every shelf. The desk was opulent with a computer and some files. She sat down behind the desk and motioned for John to sit in the chair on the other side. He sat slowly and waited for what was to come next. She typed on her computer and pulled a file from her desk out of a manila envelope. After some time, she sat back and looked at him. “Okay, I’ve been looking through the file sent to me by the high table, which as we both know is only part of the information. Now I need to hear your side.” John began his story of the blood oath and the marker he couldn’t refuse. He explained how D’Antonio had turned on him and made sure that he was hunted and then couldn’t kill him because of his indefinite stay in the Continental. She sat listening attentively throughout his story without adding or asking anything. He did not tell her about Winston’s part in anything as he still was unsure if he could trust her completely. She looked through the files again and occasionally glanced at the computer and typed in some more information while John waited patiently.

Finally, she leaned back in her chair again and stared into his eyes. John was momentarily taken aback by the weird set of circumstances. Such an odd-looking woman holding such a unique post and he still couldn’t remember how he knew her. She sighed, “John, the thing is you did break a cardinal rule. There’s no way around that…but…there are definite extenuating circumstances.” I need to schedule a meeting with the high table to have a conference about the facts as they are known and find out where we go from there. Luckily for you, setting a meeting stops the clock on your additional 24 hours. My contact is currently out of town so when I call her, I will have additional time until I must meet with her. I can try to negotiate an extenuating circumstance stay and see where that leads us. Until I meet with my contact, I have no idea how this is going to go. I believe you were stuck and, in your grief, you made decisions you may have made differently if able. I’m on your side.”

He didn’t know what he expected to hear, but that wasn’t it. He really didn’t think she’d be able to set aside the cardinal rule and try to help him. It didn’t really matter because it gave him some extra time to recuperate and think of a plan if this didn’t get him out of the shitstorm he was in. She rose from her chair and motioned for him to follow her. They walked down a corridor and into another room. This was a small bedroom. She led him inside, “This room is for you. Don’t worry about the windows they’re bulletproof and the perimeter is large enough that you are truly safe here. Besides, anyone who attacks this house is guaranteed much worse than an excommunicado order.” 

She smiled and suddenly he remembered her. He met her six or seven years ago. He was on a job that went bad and though he got it done in the end but he had gotten shot badly. The wound was near fatal and as he laid in his own blood she had knelt over him and smiled that same smile. As he thought he was dying and she was smiling she had said, “It’s okay hon I’ll fix you up.” He didn’t remember much after that until he awoke a day later already healing and feeling better than he had any right to. He couldn’t believe he didn’t realize it was her from the very beginning. No, that’s not true. Other than Helen who was rightfully the love of his life, this woman helped him to believe that he could even have someone like Helen and be loved in this world, regardless of what he had done. She helped him recuperate and in the short time he spent with her, she helped him have something he didn’t know he’d every have again, hope. Back then she had normal brown hair, no tattoos or piercings, she looked like a typical nurse but had such a bright bubbly personality. He presumed that some of that bubbliness had been destroyed by what had happened to her. He just couldn’t believe that now, in this dark time he had been fortunate enough to be able to see her again. Maybe that’s why this happened, so he could maybe repay her for what she did for him in the past. 

As she was leaving the room he decided he needed to tell her he remembered her and he remembered what she did for him, even if she didn’t know what it all meant to him. “Hey, you said they call you Phoenix right?” She paused in the doorway, “Yep.” She turned to look at him and he could see the old her. He remembered every day they spent together. “Would it be okay if I called you Shana?” She paused and then she looked shocked and crestfallen. “You remember?” He smiled and walked towards her but she backed away and put up her hand to stop him. “You don’t understand. I can’t be Shana anymore. I lost so much more than myself during that time. You don’t know what I lost and I can never be Shana again.” She walked quickly down the corridor and he decided this was not the time to follow her. What had she left out? What all had they truly done to her? He decided to rest for a bit and laid down on the bed after removing his clothes. As his eyes closed he dreamt of the past and his time with his savior.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Trigger warning. Graphic description of rape.

Phoenix walked to her bedroom. She set an alarm for 3 hours, hoping they could both rest for at least a little while. She really couldn't believe the infamous John Wick remembered her. Before lying down she called her High Table contact, Sophia. As luck would have it she did not answer the call. Phoenix left a detailed message for her to contact her after she slept for 3 hours and logged into her laptop to chart the time so that the 24 hours was on hold. She could only hope to have more luck to extend John's time. As she relaxed in bed awaiting sleep to come she couldn't help but think back on her first and only meeting with John Wick. She had heard about him in passing from others that she helped. She knew they called him Baba Yaga and that they all respected and feared him. When she was called to help him and saw him covered in his own blood along with someone else's she expected to feel fear and apprehension, but she just saw a man who was hurt and needed help. He was also extremely handsome. She felt guilty immediately as she was engaged but the facts were the same. They had spent some time together while he recovered and became friends, or so she imagined. They talked about their lives and the future. John didn't have much hope for a future at first but the longer they spent with each other he started to open up and told her about his hopes to one day have a life away from this one. Years later she had heard that he found love and actually got out. She was so happy when she heard that he finally got to have the future he was dreaming about. 

Phoenix was still with her fiance and was in the beginning of her long surgical residency. When she got the call for Petyr Stroyovsky she went willingly and though he acted like a slimeball, she didn't have any other apprehensions for her own safety. Once he was better, her first mistake was telling him goodbye before she called her handler to let them know she was done with the job. He offered to have a final drink with her before her departure, unknowingly it was drugged and she passed out soon after drinking the glass. When she awoke she was tied to a bed in just her bra and panties. Petyr came in immediately and removed the last two articles of her clothing and raped her. She cried throughout the whole ordeal and when he finished and left she thought that would be it. However, he came hours later and did it again and again. She could only be mildly grateful that it was only Petyr that came. Until days later when he sent some of his men in to partake as well. She lost track of the days and came to only know the coldness of the room and the pain from bruises and blood that leaked from her body. They didn't usually do more than rape her but some days they liked to hit and strangle her before, during, or after. One day they left her uncuffed from the bed, they must have thought that after so long her fight was gone. However, she made a plan to escape or die trying. One of his men came in and she played docile on the bed until he came near. She kicked with all her might and her foot connected with his temple, knocking him out. She ran, but she didn't know how to get out. Eventually Petyr found her and he had a knife. It was such a large blade that the first stabbing, she thought she was dead. She was silently grateful. He kept stabbing her and she lost consciousness. She felt herself being put in something and heard a zipper go above her. She didn't have enough strength to fight or even talk, but she was silently terrified. She was thrown around and felt more pain from hitting something hard. When she opened her eyes again she was lying down and Charlie was above her. She was afraid they were going to start hurting her again and she no longer had any strength to do anything. He smiled and rubbed his hand down her face, "It's okay girl. I got you." She couldn't help but close her eyes and let sleep or death take her. She really didn't care which one it was anymore. 

She didn't remember much after that until she woke up in a hospital room. She looked around and didn't recognize the hospital she was in. She looked up at her information board and it said "Jane Doe". A nurse immediately came in and made sure she didn't try to get out of bed. Once the doctor entered he asked if she knew who she was and where she was, she decided to remain clueless until she found out more information. He told her she had been dropped off at the hospital in pretty bad shape. He lowered his eyes as he explained that she was definitely raped and that probably complicated her memories. Then he told her about her surgeries. She had extensive internal damage, including to her uterus. Apparently she had been pregnant at the time, though the baby couldn't survive. She felt herself panic, she had no idea she was pregnant, how far along, who was the father, she started to cry. The doctor tried to comfort her as best as he could. "Look, I know this is a shock to you, especially since you don't know who or where you are. I'm so sorry for your loss." He continued on about the various surgeries she had to undergo including a hysterectomy. She knew she would never be able to have children. What would her fiance think? He obviously didn't know she was here or he would be sitting here with her. When the doctor was finished he left the room and left her to think.


End file.
